Friday Feedback 12

Kyle and Allison, military couple: "A good way for us to have focused and meaningful discussions..."

Kyle: I am currently deployed to Europe, so the questions were a good way for us to have focused, meaningful discussions on some important topics. As we (her more than I) continue to plan our marriage from two different sides of the world, the structured forum to talk about how and what we want our marriage to be was awesome.
I appreciated the time we were able to set aside (not as much as we'd like, but some nonetheless) to talk specifically about our relationship and how we want to grow together.

How it impacted his faith: It continued to reaffirm the important priorities in life and in a relationship. As someone who tends to be task-focused, specifically with work, it is important to always do my best to "keep my priorities straight."
I plan to pray together, church (together as we can), maybe a small group study or one of our own, and projects through our church

Allison: This class helped initiate many important conversations and helped set the foundation for our marriage expectations. We were challenged to talk about various topics that could present issues in marriage, some of which had definitely not come up in our conversations before. This class actually challenged Kyle and I to look deeper into our relationship than I expected.
I definitely appreciated the quick feedback. Kyle and I definitely looked forward to spending some of his quieter weekend time to discuss the assignments.

How it impacted her faith: I think this class helped bring to light how difficult marriage can be at times, and how faith will help us get through those times together. The topics discussing natural family planning also reinforced my desire to try it.
I plan to go to church weekly, go to confession more often, start praying with Kyle.

About the author

I was born and raised in Burgundy, France. Good wine and good food reign, but the the region is also deeply rooted in Christianity. The number of beautiful roman churches and chapels is amazing. I am number four of five kids: three girls and two boys. I was raised in a practicing Catholic family. I married Christian in 1977 in Burgundy in an 11th century church. We have five beautiful daughters. Two of them still live in France and three are in the US with us. Our two eldest daughters are married, one in Denver, one in France, and each have five children so far. Our third daughter is currently expecting her first baby. After fifteen years in the Catholic Community of the Beatitudes, we dedicated ourselves to the ministry towards the engaged. We have been the Directors of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of Colorado Springs since 2005. We became American citizens in 2010 and now have dual citizenship: French and American. I love to take pictures and to scrapbook, I love drawing and crafts (salt-dough is my best!), hiking and gardening. I am the computer geek for our organization.

I always giggle a little when a couple misunderstands the question on immorality in the online marriage prep course. It’s an understandable misinterpretation: the difference between immorality and i...